1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a retaining and guiding material for dogs. The retaining and guiding material according to the present invention is particularly suitable for dog leads and collars, dog harnesses and the like.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
The German Gebrauchsmuster No. G 94 12 362.4 discloses a neck strap provided with a quick-closure mechanism and a safety means bridging said quick-closure mechanism and preventing the dog from slipping off the neck strap, if said quick-closure mechanism should have been opened unintentionally. This neck strap consists of a high-strength flat nylon strap. A lead can be attached to this neck strap.
The known straps, leads, neck straps and harnesses normally consist of a comparatively thick and high-strength strip.
Neck straps are, if possible, attached loosely to the animal so as to prevent unnecessarily high pressure from being transmitted to the animal""s neck. A loosely attached neck strap, however, entails the risk of said neck strap rubbing the animal""s neck due to its own inertia. Also with regard to safe guidance of the dog, which is desired in many cases, a comparatively loose attachment of the neck strap proves to be disadvantageous. When strong forces are transmitted, high surface pressures will occur especially in the edge area of the straps.
It is the object of the present invention to provide a retaining and guiding material for dogs which, used as a dog lead and/or dog collar and/or dog harness, offers, on the one hand, increased comfort for the animal wearing it and, on the other hand, increased handling comfort for the animal owner.
According to the present invention, comparatively strong guiding forces are transmitted to a substantially reduced load acting on the area where the animals are in contact with the strap, especially the neck area. The hoselike shape of the strap leads to the result that the pulling forces to be transmitted by the strap will be distributed to a contact section which is in contact with the animal and an outer section facing outwards. The contact section which is in contact with the animal and the outer section facing outwards are laterally displaceable relative to each other due to the hoselike shape of the strap. The displaceability of the contact section and of the outer section relative to one another permits appropriate positioning of the neck strap thus reducing the load concentration which has occurred up to now in the lateral edge area of the straps. Due to the reduction of the pressure occurring in the edge area of the strap, especially the neck strap, a much more advantageous pressure distribution between the neck strap and the animal will be obtained. Furthermore, a sufficient strength in combination with an extremely low own weight of the strap is obtained.
An embodiment of the strap which is advantageous with regard to a particularly uniform distribution of forces is given in view of the fact that the hose is preferably implemented as a woven integral hose. The contact section facing the animal in the attached condition and the complementary outer section facing away from the animal are therefore defined in common by the hose wall. The inner wall of the hose is preferably comparatively smooth. This will improve the appropriate positioning and therefore the adaptation of the hose to the instantaneous load condition.
The retaining and guiding material consists preferably of a woven plastic material, such as a woven polyamide hose, but it is not limited to this kind of material. The retaining and guiding material may also be a woven hose of textile material.
The weaving structure of the strap is advantageously chosen such that the tensile stiffness of the strap is higher in the longitudinal direction of the strap then in the transverse direction thereof. Also this permits the pressure acting on the animal""s neck in the edge area of the strap to be substantially reduced in an advantageous manner. It will be of advantage when the hose consists of a synthetic fibre material, in particular a polyamide fibre material. Such fibers permit a particularly weight-saving mode of realizing the strap. A neck strap of this kind can be washed easily, if desired under addition of cleaning agents.
Especially when a synthetic fibre material is used, the hose is formed of threads which are woven together, the respective threads being, in turn, formed of extremely fine microfibers which may be spun together, if desired. A particularly soft strap having a high flexibility and a high tensile stiffness is obtained in this way.
An embodiment of the strap which is advantageous with regard to a sufficient dimensional stability is given in view of the fact that, in a transition area between the contact section and the outer section, a fold zone extending in the longitudinal direction of the hose is provided. When this fold zone is suitably realized, it can be achieved in an advantageous manner that the hose will automatically assume a substantially flat initial configuration. This fold zone can be defined under the influence of heat, e.g., by ironing the hose, or by a specific weaving or looping structure. Especially in the case of comparatively broad straps it will be possible to provide respective fold zones on both longitudinal sides of the strap.
According to a particularly preferred embodiment of the present invention, the fold zone is formed by a weaving or looping location extending in the longitudinal direction of the hose. This weaving or looping location defines a high-strength connection along which a strip material produced preferably by a weaving process is connected by weaving or looping so as to form an integral hose. The weaving or looping location is preferably implemented such that, also in the area of said weaving or looping location, the integral hose will largely have the same mechanical properties as in the other wall areas thereof. The weaving or looping location is, however, preferably implemented such that it will support flat folding of the hose.
In order to guarantee that the weaving or looping location extends in the lateral area of the strap, said weaving or looping location is preferably marked by a different color. This is preferably done by using a weaving or looping thread dyed With a contrasting color in comparison with the rest of the strap.
Alternatively to such colored marking of the lateral area of the strap, or also in combination therewith, it is according to an advantageous embodiment also possible to mark at least one side of the strap by a different color. For this purpose, threads dyed with a contrasting color are advantageously woven into or twisted into the respective wall area of the integral hose.
An embodiment of the strap which is advantageous with regard to a particularly uniform surface pressure caused by the retaining forces applied via the strap is given in view of the fact that the hose accommodates therein, at least in certain sections thereof, a lining or padding means. This lining or padding means is advantageously formed by a padding member having a flat, in particular a substantially flat, rectangular cross-section.
The padding member is preferably formed of an, in principle, dimensionally stable body of soft material and loosely accommodated in the interior of the integral hose. An embodiment of the strap, especially of the neck strap, which is advantageous with regard to a particularly low surface pressure, is given in view of the fact that the cross-section of the padding member is implemented such that, in a sectorial plane extending at right angles to the longitudinal direction of the strap, the circumferential length of the cross-section is smaller than an inner circumference of a corresponding cross-section of the hose. A padding member dimensioned in this way can be introduced in the hose substantially loosely. The positioning properties of the strap, in particular the displaceability of the wall which is in contact with the animal relative to the wall facing away and outwards, are improved still further by a loosely inserted padding member of this kind.
An embodiment which is of advantage with respect to an advantageous surface pressure of the strap and of the neck strap, respectively, is given in view of the fact that the width of the padding member is smaller than half the inner circumference of the hose. As far as its thickness is concerned, the padding member is advantageously dimensioned such that this thickness corresponds to at least 30% of the strap thickness measured at right angles to the contact surface.
The width of the padding member inserted in the hose preferably amounts to at least 56% of the width of the strap.
The padding member preferably consists of a preferably multilayered body of foamed plastic. According to a special aspect of the present invention, a closed-pore foam material is used as its a foam material. This will reduce the amount of water which may perhaps be absorbed by the strap, and a reduction of the drying time will be achieved. In a particularly advantageous manner, it will also be possible to provide in this way a strap, especially a neck strap, which is, in principle, floatable and which may perhaps also act as its a swimming aid.
The foam material used for forming the padding member is preferably a foam material consisting of a thermoplastic or heat fusible plastic material. Hence, it is possible to locally melt the padding material, which may first be introduced in the integral hose along the whole length thereof, in an advantageous manner and to flatten the initially padded hose in certain sections thereof. In the flattened area, the respective lateral portions of the integral hose can be welded together by the molten material of the padding member. Such an area of the hose can easily be inserted into suitable eye members, which may be formed, e.g., on a quick-locking clasp.